


Angels Fall So Splendidly

by QueenCrossshade



Category: All Elite Wrestling, Professional Wrestling, 新日本プロレス | New Japan Pro-Wrestling
Genre: A lot of teasing sry, Angst, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Family Bonding, Flashbacks, Fluff and Smut, Friends to Lovers, Golden Lovers being adorable, Hiromu owning everyone's heart as usual, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, Kenny being a drama queen as usual, LIJ being LIJ, M/M, Multi, Mutual Pining, Naito being oblivious, POV Alternating, Polyamory, Polyamory Negotiations, Soulmates, basically a road journal, being the elite - Freeform, forgive me if i mess up my uploading schedule, kayfabe compliant?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-29
Updated: 2019-10-10
Packaged: 2020-02-09 21:21:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18646336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenCrossshade/pseuds/QueenCrossshade
Summary: A chronicle of almost the entire New Japan arc since the 100th episode of Being The Elite. And onwards with time.





	1. Supercard of Honor; April, 2018

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, so this has been in the works for quite some time but university and other stuff got in my way... 
> 
> As I'm now finally able to share it with the world, I have to give a huge shoutout to my best friends who did the beta reading for me and gave me so much encouragement and good advice. Also a big thank you to a number of wonderful Njpw-authors who indirectly inspired this story (aka my first attempt at writing wrestling, so pls cut me some slack haha).
> 
> Of course, kudos or comments are always appreciated ^o^ Please enjoy!

_Supercard of Honor; April 7, 2018_

  
**Kenny's POV:**

Watching Matt and Nick being ushered out of his dressing room after their heated argument about the Elite's future had felt like being shot straight through the heart. It hadn't been the right time for reconciliation – maybe it never would be. And even though the mere notion of him and the Young Bucks ever breaking apart had always seemed utterly impossible, tonight things had eventually boilt over.

Every single bone and muscle in his exhausted body was aching, pulsating with frustration and white-hot rage as he now lay upon his messy hotel bed, only a few miles away from the 'Supercard of Honor' – venue where his supposed-to-be-brothers had just superkicked the ever-living shit out of him.

Kota who was sitting across from him on a small bench in the corner suddenly crossed the narrow space between them and gingerly reached for his partner's hand. Kenny – still not quite used to being touched by the Golden star again – jolted slightly at the contact, yet didn't pull away and slowly looked up at him instead.

"Stop blaming yourself for everything, Kenny-tan. They have made their choice and now need to face the consequences: It's as simple as that," Kota claimed in his characteristically determined fashion while gently brushing his thumb over Kenny's palm. Sighing deeply, Kenny sat up until he could rest his head against his friend's shoulder.

"Unfortunately, it isn't, Bu-san... We've known each other for nearly a decade: Heck, they're my family! And still... Cody finally got what he wanted all along: driving us apart, manipulating each member of the Bullet Club until he could claim that crown he so desperately desires. But you know what?“ - An audible snort of disgust - "I don't care about the outcome of that match! Whether I've lost or won, that ungrateful, shameless traitor will never be able to call himself the leader of Bullet Club – not on my watch!," he replied in an angry mixture of English and Japanese. Kenny legitimately hated to speak about his former friend like that but ever since Cody's malicious assaults on Kota, he only saw red.

"This of course doesn't change the fact that the Golden Lovers turned out to be the greatest attraction in New Orleans this weekend and neither Cody, nor Brandi or anyone else can take that away from us, right?“

Kota seemed to appreciate this fairly poor attempt at lightening the mood and flashed him an endearing smile. He also started to pet Kenny's unruly curls just like back in their old tag-team days.

"Exactly, and that's why you should finally allow yourself some rest: We can be very proud of our accomplishments these past few days. But if you don't want to fall asleep on the plane on Monday or during the Meet and Greet tomorrow, you should head to the bathroom right now.“

Kenny had already lost track of Kota's words because the mere sensation of him stroking his head in such an affectionate manner sent exhilarating tingles down Kenny's spine and despite all those hardships of the day, Kota still remained the most prominent thing on his mind. Even if their reunion had taken place three months ago. Of course he did... it had been the foundation and pillar of their respective lives and careers after all: Always being each other's top priority, each other's co-muse and inspiration. Kenny doubted that would ever change and to be honest, - although he couldn't fully process what had transpired over the last couple of weeks - he actually didn't want it to.

So after a long, drawn out shower, the Bullet Club leader hastily dressed himself for the night in order to still be able to wish Kota a 'Good Night' before the other one eventually left the hotel room of his own accord.

As he returned to the hallway however, Kota was just standing outside on the balcony, leaning against the balustrade and looking ridiculously beautiful in that clear, nocturnal moonlight which illuminated the vivid, colorful city beyond. Kenny could feel his heart swell, watching his beloved Ibushi being so wholly enchanted by the lovely sight of New Orleans beneath their windows. The Bourbon Street was a flurry of motion, all kinds of people – visitors and citizens alike – were still meandering around the pretty little cafés and theaters, some of them dressed up in typical 'Big Easy' – fashion, others apparently just going out to enjoy the cheerful melodies of Lousiana's Big Bands. Their catchy tunes drifted up to the hotel windows on a warm midnight breeze.

The whole city seemed to buzz with the energy of thousands and thousands of excited wrestling fans – an energy that glowed right alongside countless golden street lights all the way down to the grand arc of the Mercedes Benz Superdome in the distance. A passion that outshone even the cold sparkle of the stars over Kota's head, framing his head like a halo.

Kenny wished he could paint it: This exact moment and especially the way Kota's amber eyes lit up with surprise, confusion and an emotion one couldn't quite place, as he outright dared to ask:

"Would you mind staying here, Bu-san? Just for tonight?“

Kenny regretted his question immediately after the words had left his mouth. In fact, as opposed to what most people probably expected, him and Kota had not gotten intimate with each other since reuniting in Sapporo in January – they hadn't even shared a kiss up until now. The gap between them still seemed too wide and whether this cautious distance had formed due to their individual personal development or the constant attempts to either avoid every possible contact or get under each other's skin... he couldn't muster up the courage to bridge it. He wanted too – that was for sure. But making a request as reckless as this one out of the blue... it might be too soon for that. Was he really just going to back Kota into a corner like that and expecting him to sway with it?

These past few months had Kenny's mind flooded with bittersweet, everlasting memories of the Golden Lovers' early days, reminding him once again of how utterly foolish he must have been to ever walk from Kota's side. Even though they were most likely both to blame for their strained relationship since 2014, merely hugging or putting an arm around his tag-partner's shoulders brought something deep within himself back to life: an unbridled, blazing part of his soul which had been buried inside his heart for so long that the impact of it re-surfacing again all of a sudden had completely taken him aback. Ruining this newly regained trust and faith in one another would be an absolute nightmare scenario.

So Kenny wisely settled on keeping his mouth shut, giving Kota ample time to consider his offer without feeling pressured in any way. But to his eternal surprise, the Golden Star just smiled tentatively and strode over to where Kenny stood before the bed.

"I thought you'd never ask.“

Before Kenny could even raise his eyebrows, Kota bent down to grab his traveling suitcase from a desk nearby and started to search for some comfortable clothes he could change into. Out of sheer panic, the blond quickly turned around in order to prevent acting like a creep by watching his best friend undress. It was a ridiculously childish move, considering the fact that they had seen each other in their revealing ring gear countless times already. Nonetheless, idly examining the utter mess of strewn-about hair products, used towels and open backpacks that coated the floor and the old-fashioned furniture of the hotel room seemed like a more pleasant option right now. He could almost feel Kota's curious gaze searing into the back of his head until the steady sounds of faint rustling and thudding finally stopped and Kenny felt like he could lift his eyes again.

For a moment, the pair just looked at each other, very much conscious of the significance of this next step. Although Kota's body language seemed to imply that he only saw this as an opportunity to comfort and watch over his partner. Then, suddenly and out of nowhere, Kenny`s cellphone rang, causing the two to go rigid instantly. Kenny already knew it was probably a desperate message from the Bucks, trying to get him to just speak to them again. That's why he decided to turn off the phone entirely and stuff it into the drawer of his nightstand.

"You can talk to them, Kenny. I wouldn't blame you...," Kota murmured encouragingly after Kenny had climbed under the sheets, looking like he was about to snap someone`s neck.

"I have no desire to even think about them right now. Losing to somebody like Cody is horrible enough and honestly...“

Kenny's focus shifted as if he recalled the precise moment, Matt and Nick's boots had hit him square in the face.

"I have never felt disappointed in them – not even once. They always had my back and now... This is just too much for my battered brain to brood over tonight.“

When Kota didn't reply for several seconds, Kenny frowned in confusion and leaned onto his side to get a glimpse at what the weird silence was all about, not expecting the other Golden Lover to pull a set of gaming controllers out from under the mattress and handing one of them to him. A genuine, gleeful smile was plastered across his face.

"Do you remember how you were content with solving your problems by actually murdering me in a video game? Maybe it could still help nowadays?," he suggested while Kenny slowly turned the controller over in his hands and felt his grim expression fade into a sad huff of laughter.

"I can't believe... You are just the best, Bu-san. You know that, right?“

Kota seemed to be at once amused and flattered by the compliment as he casually slipped under the covers beside him – like it was the most natural thing in the world. As if not a single day had passed since their hilarious gaming nights back in the old DDT-times. Kenny almost dropped the remote when booting his console next to the TV across from his bed as Kota proceeded to inch closer and eventually nestled his head in the crook of Kenny's neck.

"Is... is this alright with you?," he asked softly. The 'Cleaner's' voice inside his mind immediately shouted at him to shoot a cocky and confident remark in Kota's direction. It was only the sight of his lovely, peaceful expression, the soothing weight of his back on Kenny's chest that got him to surrender. He simply couldn't reject Kota's display of affection – not after everything he had wrought upon him.

"Young Bucks, who?," Kenny mused with a sarcastic glint lighting up his eyes. Kota beamed up at him in return before swiftly trying to change the subject in the fear of Kenny sinking back into his sulky mood once again:

"So, I guess you're still torn between playing another round of Earthbound and completing that tricky quest in Final Fantasy XIV?“

Kenny tucked the sheets a little tighter around them both and closed his eyes in resignation for a moment.

"The decision's up to you. Courtesy of your sweet dedication to my well-being. It doesn't really matter, though: I'll beat you anyway, Ibu-san. And while we're just lying here, dwelling in nostalgia and stuff – I've contemplated switching back to my old, purely blonde hairstyle. Thoughts?“

Kota did not hesistate at all as he put on this calm and loving smile again and replied:

"You don't need to change your haircolor to resemble your old self again. You'll always be the same wild, adventurous and cheerful Kenny-tan from our very first meeting to me. No difference in appearance or demeanor could ever change that.“

And somehow this answer was so heartbreakingly... _Kota_ that Kenny got all the more convinced, he had to turn this plan into a reality.

 

 

**Matt's POV:**

 

No reply. Not a single letter. Of course, he didn't reply. Matt told himself over and over after relentlessly pacing up and down the hallway in front of their hotel room for almost twenty minutes that Kenny had no reason to pick up on their calls... Not after the incident at 'Supercard of Honor'.

He could hear Nick getting ready for bed beyond the open door already, knowing that he should follow suit as soon as possible. They had to leave the States in the early morning hours, after all – But the nagging remorse, the agonizing guilt of their encounter with their former? - No! - _best_ friend tonight made every chance of falling asleep any time soon seem impossible. How the hell had it come down to this?! For as long as he could remember, Kenny had always been like a second brother to him and even though, Nick and himself had 'only' met him ten years ago, Kenny had quickly turned into something more essential, irreplacable than even family.

 _'God damnit!,'_ Matt wanted to cuss as he slammed the door shut behind him and returned to the suite without even paying attention to the disapproving grunt of his brother. They had spent the past two hours after the fallout at the arena just stewing over all the mistakes any of them could have made – prior to kicking Kenny in the face... They couldn't even bring themselves to sign the huge stacks of merch piling up on the counters around the room.

"So – is he really gone? No more Elite – no more nothing?“

Nick's question sliced through the tense air like a knife and Matt, for the first time in ages, was on the verge of actually tearing up. All of this felt so final – What if they actually never got back together again?

Matt slumped down on his bed feeling like he had been fantasizing their split all along. The warning signs had been right there - Why did he let Cody get inside his head?

"I don't know, Nick! But sitting around and being miserable won't make him forgive us either... We have to fix this, man. There _has_ to be a way! I won't give up on us – ever.“

He could hear Nick exhaling loudly in the background and turning off the bedside lamps.

"Tomorrow, alright? We're both tired and you won't come up with a grand master-plan at 1:30 in the morning, okay?," the younger Jackson brother mumbled, seemingly already drifting off to sleep. Matt looked down upon his other half with a frown.

"...Okay. I would try though, you know?“

Nick smiled with his eyes already shut.

"Yeah – I'm sure you would.“

He paused for a long moment until he added: "It will be so strange to fly back to Japan without having Kenny waiting for us ever again...“

The words barely made it past the heavy lump in Matt's throat as he replied: "Yes...yes it will.“

Matt didn't sleep for the entire rest of the night.


	2. Interim

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kenny deals with the repercussions of his Bullet Club exile. In one way or another...

_About 1 month later_

 

**Kenny's POV:**

 

He could feel himself getting better day by day.

The progress made was slow and took a lot of effort but as time went by, Kenny felt like he could finally breathe again. Kota accompanied him every step of the way, making sure that he did not feel too isolated or lonely in the weeks following the Young Bucks' betrayal.

They went out for dinner in their old favorite restaurants, continued to work out together until they both collapsed in laughter and exhaustion, planned one shopping trip around Akihabara after the other and spent their afternoons in the arcade or exercising any non-wrestling related sport in Japan's lovely nature. Kota had even decided to move in with Kenny again: Partly because it was the most logical and practical thing to do but also because he started to miss Kenny the moment they said goodbye to each other every day. As soon as their respective belongings had been re-arranged into the Ibushi townhouse once again, everything changed.

Gone were the awkward glances and the anxious behavior between them – Kenny started to open up towards his partner, allowed himself to show his imperfections instead of hiding them and Kota reminded him that they should be worn with pride, not with shame. Ibushi made him feel accepted, understood and happy like there was nothing he had to prove to anybody in order to be considered a worthy human being. Of course there was still a lot of work to do until their relationship could be fully mended again but Kenny's physical and mental condition gradually improved even if his thoughts drifted off to a certain pair of brothers every other day.

Yes, despite everything Kenny wondered how they were doing, if their “break-up” haunted them as much as it did him. Did they miss him? Could he at least send them a message to let them know he was alright? Perhaps he indeed had overreacted? They were only human – Mistakes happened, right? Bad decisions... He couldn't possibly shut them out of his life forever, right?

 

It was two days before New Japan's next big event 'Wrestling Dontaku' that him and Kota decided to take a long and relaxing walk through one of the prefecture's beautiful water gardens when those feelings hit Kenny again hard. He didn't speak up in the fear of destroying this wonderful time he got to spend with Kota. They were almost walking hand-in-hand, their fingers brushing up against each other ever so often.

It was a flawless day in May, the mild spring sun shedding its crisp light upon the paths the two were trailing down and a cloudy sky created beautiful reflections on the surface of those tranquil little streams and ponds all over the area. The only signs of life in the aquatic resort seemed to be the faint steps of other visitors who were crossing small bridges that connected the make-shift islands and the melodic chirping of ornamental birds which flapped from branch to branch. However, the silence between them was suddenly broken by Kota who came to an abrupt halt and asked with a lot of concern in his voice:

“Did you feed the cats this morning? I swear I thought it was your turn today. I'm so sorry.”

Kenny couldn't help but chuckle at Kota's adorableness and playfully ruffled his hair.

“Don't you worry, Bu-san. I prepared their food right after breakfast and even if they had to fast for a while – They'd still look more well-fed than you. Maybe, if you started to look after your own health quite like the one of your cats, you wouldn't end up dehydrated every now and then,” Kenny joked and smiled from ear to ear when Kota reacted with a blush.

Soon however, Kenny's smile faltered as he took a deep breath and inhaled the soothing scent of cherry blossoms which lingered in the air wherever they went. The pretty, white and rose colored trees grew on every free patch of land and gave the place an almost magical atmosphere like it had been snatched right out of a fairytale. Those trees formed something close to a grove around them at the moment with only a small portion of sunlight filtering through the canopy.

Kenny took a few steps toward the bank of the only pond nearby and signaled Kota to come to his side.

“After I finished feeding the cats, I dug up an old photoalbum from one of the last remaining moving boxes... It was the one you gave me for our second anniversary, remember?,” he asked carefully.

Kota must've picked up on the nervous vibes coming from Kenny because he bit his lip while nodding in response.

“It's full of pictures... pictures of our adventures together and I can't help but think: I really don't deserve any of this. I don't deserve you coming back to save me from my misery and I sure as hell don't deserve a second chance at this life depicted in your photoalbum.”

Kenny turned around to face Kota just in time to see him flinch at the strain in his voice. He threw his hands in the air and shook his head.

“How could I ever forgive Nick and Matt, if I can't even forgive myself? God, I'm such a mess, Kota. Why would you want to deal with all of my shit again?”

Even Kenny himself was surprised at this outbreak of honesty – Normally, he didn't like to put any blame on himself. Especially, in their case because of all the previous bashing and mocking in interviews and promos. Kota however, saw right through Kenny's obvious attempt to cover up his vulnerabilities and placed two fingers under his chin. Kenny immediately crumbled and held onto Kota's wrist with a weak grip.

“Kenny...,” Kota began and lifted the other one's chin until he had to look him in the eye. “Yes, you are a mess. But you are my mess – My wonderful mess... Don't you see what I've been trying to show you all these years? I never really left you. I never stopped watching or caring about you: No matter what you said about me. Because I knew... It wasn't actually what you wanted to say. When I came out to save you, I wanted you to realize that it's not a championship or a faction or fame and success that made me love you in the first place... You – You were the only reason. And everything we ever dreamt of together. Kenny, the person not Kenny, the wrestler.”

Kenny stared at him in utter disbelief, his heart clenching painfully at Kota's explanation. 'Love'... It was the first time he had used this term since their last days as a team. Kota started to stroke Kenny's cheek with his thumb. Kenny leaned into the touch like all this time of insecurity and agony, of loneliness and regret and restlessness had taken a heavy toll on him – as if there was no better feeling in the world than to just step closer to Kota until their bodies were mere inches apart.

“But then I realized something. These people were now a part of the real Kenny. We both changed. The Bullet Club – Matt and Nick – they have given you a home and a place to further create your vision. It may be hard for me to understand as to why friends would hurt each other like that but deep down, I think, they really love you and wanted to protect you... I believe that everybody deserves a second chance. I mean... that was why you accepted my hug that night, wasn't it?”

The moment Kota noticed how close they actually were, his gaze became softer and softer. None of them pulled away and Kenny felt his hands slowly run up and down Kota's back in return.

“Kenny... Shouldn't we stop lying to ourselves? I know that you feel the same way. It's killing me to pretend every day – that this could actually ever be enough for either of us,” Kota whispered and Kenny lifted his eyes, a single tear starting to form on the side of his face.

“Or did I misread the signs? Did... did your love for me fade away with time?”

The pain and disappointment in Kota's expression shook Kenny to the very core and suddenly he couldn't stop the tear from falling. Clenching his teeth in frustration, Kenny averted his gaze and muttered:

“Kota, I can't... I've been with other people... You'll only get hurt in the long run. It wouldn't be fair and you know that.”

But Kota only pulled him closer and examined him with a certain kind of understanding and confidence.

“Ibushi...Don't. I'll ruin it and I can't lose you again,” Kenny tried to reason.

“No, you won't. We both learnt from our mistakes, became better people and somehow managed to find each other again... We can't let this chance go to waste. I won't ever let you out of my sight again. Don't you remember our promise, Kenny?”

Kenny forced himself to look back at Kota once more.

“...To change the world together?”

Upon leaning in, Kota nodded firmly.

“Together,” he emphasized and then they kissed. Right then and there. Without any need for verbal communication. Without any second thought.

Because there really wasn't anything to think about: Their bodies remembered each other like the moon and sun in their endless cycle, like the One-Winged Angel who had finally found its second wing again.

This time Kenny felt no urge to wipe away the tears that now flowed freely down his cheeks, mixing into their kiss and making them taste the salt amongst the sweetness. In a matter of seconds the initial timidness was gone and their lips moved together like they wanted to make up all of the years lost at once. Kenny clung onto Kota's jacket as if he'd be consumed by their rekindled passion if he didn't and Kota made no move to brush the stray strands of hair out of Kenny's face which had been messed up by the wind, either. The up-flairing spring breeze caused the trees around them to rustle peacefully and sent scattered little cherry blossoms through the air until they landed on the water next to Kenny and Kota.

To Kenny, it was perfect. Kissing Kota felt like a victory declaration, not an apology. And in the end he came to the conclusion that if he had to go through this kind of hell all over again in order to return to Kota Ibushi, he would do it in an instant. Because – yes: It was totally worth the wait.


	3. Wrestling Dontaku; May, 2018

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chris Jericho returning to New Japan was probably the last thing Hiromu had needed right now.

_Wrestling Dontaku, 4.5.2018_

**Hiromu's POV:**

 

Enduring Naito when the Ingovernables had just lost a match was a _delight_. Dealing with him after being jumped following a bout was even worse.

The stubborn git brushed them off as soon as they hit the backstage area, even though Jericho had beaten him to a bloody pulp only moments earlier. Although Hiromu was used to Naito's resolve of not wanting to be helped whenever his pride was hurt, it was particularily difficult to watch him stumble through the hallways while the other four trailed behind and tried to keep the cameras off their wounded leader. Hiromu was absolutely furious – at that obnoxious foreigner, at those useless security staff who failed to shield Naito from the heinous attack but most of all at himself for not getting down to the ring earlier. The 'Best of the Super Juniors' – tournament was less than a month away – How the hell was he supposed to win the damn thing – for himself, for his faction and to finally make his mentor proud of him again when he couldn't even save him from being assaulted in front of the eyes of the whole world?

EVIL and SANADA seemed to read Hiromu's facial expression correctly – as they did so often – and carefully pulled him aside.

“Go and help Bushi pack our stuff. We'll meet you outside the venue,” EVIL offered and shot a stern glare at Naito who was trying to play down the severity of the beat-down ever so calmly in front of the 'Tokyo Sports' – reporter at the moment, like the 'Tranquilo One' himself was to blame for causing Hiromu so much pain. Of course, Hiromu protested, insisting that he couldn't leave Naito's side and needed to tend to his wounds, yet SANADA held him back and reassured him of how they would take care of him. Hiromu eventually gave in and followed Bushi to the locker room, though not without eyeballing his leader one last time.

 

Upon returning to their condo in Tokyo a few days later, Hiromu immediately fetched a bundle of crayons and his marquee notepad from the living room, already having his sights set on leaving the little 'family gathering' as soon as possible. As expected however, two fingers hooked into the curve of his collar and kept him from rushing off all too quickly.

“Where are you going, amigo?,” Naito demanded with his brows raised in expectation. “We agreed upon staying at home today and talking over your strategy for BOSJ. And the others were already looking forward to your delicious onigiri.“

Hiromu took a deep breath before turning around and sparing him a lazy, feline smile.

“You only want me to stay because they'd all get food poisoning if you were to be left alone with the kitchen,” he replied loud enough for everyone to hear. Collective snickering echoed throughout the room. Naito however, ignored Hiromu's impudence and continued:

“What were you planning on drawing?” He pointed at the notebook for emphasis.

“You. With giant donkey ears and a potato for a nose. Why?”

Naito's answering smile almost made him forget his anger which only made him even angrier in return.

“Hiro... Is there anything you want to tell me?”

Hiromu scowled at him and tried to pry his arm out of Naito's grip. Naito sighed dramatically and suggested:

“Alright. If I let you go now, do you promise to meet me in the gym after the others have gone to bed?”

Hiromu eyed him from the side for a little while before shrugging and mumbling:

“Whatever.”

Naito let him go and rolled his eyes when Hiromu exclaimed: “Don't die, y'all!” before vanishing out the door.

 

Unfortunately, Hiromu's luck didn't last for very long: Only a few minutes after he had settled down in the building's lobby, an annoyingly familiar face appeared beyond the glass facade by the doors. Hiromu bumped his head against the backrest of his armchair when the masked man spotted him sitting in the corner and entered without any sort of invitation to do so.

_Give me a break_ , Hiromu thought and continued to doodle some meaningless figures and patterns onto the blank pages in front of him. Desperado flopped himself down on the armchair opposite Hiromu's in his usual swaggering manner, made himself comfortable and snorted at him like the irredeemable idiot he was.

“What do you want, Despy?,” Hiromu eventually asked without really caring or lifting his eyes from the notepad after Desperado just kept smirking and staring.

“What do you mean, darling? Can't I just stop by because I missed you? I know you're playing hard to get nowadays – maybe because there's no belt for you to brag about anymore?“

Desperado's gloating chuckle was cut short by Hiromu just standing up and strolling over to the elevator with jumpy little steps as if the other junior simply didn't exist. “Wa...Wait a second! Where the hell are you going? Did I step onto the kitty's tail a little too harshly?,” Desperado stuttered in confusion and quickly grabbed a hold of Hiromu's spotted fur coat. Having had enough of people trying to hold him back repeatedly, Hiromu slapped the man's hand away and looked at him with unmistakable disinterest.

“If you're just staying here to tease me, I'm leaving. Not in the mood, Despy,” he clarified and watched as Desperado's smug demeanor crumbled under his gaze. Usually, he would amuse himself with how easy it was to trick Desperado into losing hold of a conversation but today he just didn't care. His thoughts wandered off to his planned meeting with Naito, Daryl's recovery, a multitude of things – anything but his rival's petty mind games.

“You're wounding me, Hiromu dear. But fine, fine: I'm supposed to be picking something up for the boss in the area. And paying you a visit was a spontaneous decision because there is something I wanted to tell you in person anyway.“

Hiromu gave up and sighed before returning to his seat and tiredly rubbing his eyes upon laying down in a rather uncomfortable-looking position.

“Well then, out with it,” he urged. Desperado crossed his legs and warily looked around the empty foyer – as if his issue was some kind of essential secret. _Pff...ridiculous..._

“You know that 'Best of the Super Juniors' is right around the corner. I spent the last couple of days thinking about who would be deserving of a title shot when I win this year and beat Ospreay in the aftermath... Considering how many incompetent morons are running around in this division and how much fun the two of us had during our last encounters, I figured there was only one reasonable option.“

A smirk made its way onto Hiromu's full lips. Desperado was so deliciously predictable.

“You just can't stay away from me, El Desperado, can you?,” he mused and turned around until he could grin at him from upside-down. Desperado scowled at him and bent over in order to trace the smooth column of Hiromu's throat with his manicured index finger. From this angle, Hiromu contemplated, the hideous white contact lenses in combination with the black facepaint and striped mask made him look like a ferret even more. Especially when he tried (and failed) to look intimidating. As was the case right now.

“Don't flatter yourself, neko-chan. You'd be first in line to bitch and moan about being overlooked if I chose somebody else. And that's something you can't handle at all, right?,” Desperado claimed and leaned down until the fringes of his mask started to tickle Hiromu's cheeks. “ _Being forgotten?_ “

For a split second it seemed like he had hit a nerve, although Hiromu was quick to smile it away and counter:

“That would mean you'd have to win the tournament first, I fear. And we both know that's not gonna happen. Sorry, Despy“

Putting on his best puppy eyes, Hiromu decided to play along and lifted his hands to gently run them over Desperado's face. Oh, it was just too easy.

“Maybe if you play really nice up until the finals, I might chance my mind and select you as my first challenger. We'll see...,” he added and felt a tremendous amount of satisfaction bubble up inside him as pure jealousy narrowed Desperado's eyes to small slits.

“Change your mind? Who was your initial choice then?“

Hiromu shrugged – still smirking – and slowly rose from his position without leaning back so that his forehead basically rested against Desperado's.

“Not sure. Ishimori, maybe? He's cute. And really talented. On top of that, he's new to our roster and as everyone knows: I am very curious and always love a new challenge,” he said in a honeyed voice. Desperado seemed to consider, whether it was worth digging deeper for a while, then decided against it and acted like he didn't care.

“Whatever the outcome, I'm convinced we'll both make sure this tournament is gonna smoke this year's G1 like fresh _yakitori_.“

With every word, Desperado backed him further down into his chair, the leather barely giving Hiromu any space to sink into. The luchador started to push the notebook out of the other one's lap and pull on his hair, strong enough to leave Hiromu no choice but to bare his throat to him.

“How about we go upstairs to continue this conversation, Hiromu? Can you spare half an hour?,” Desperado growled against the skin of his neck and Hiromu instinctively tilted his head to the side to give him better access. Perhaps it would be a welcomed distraction to leave with him right now – to spend his bundled-up energy before he could angrily scream it out at Naito later on and he almost got up to drag Desperado up the stairs with him until he remembered that the reason he came down to the lobby in the first place was to escape the other Ingobernables members. So instead, Hiromu caught Desperado's chin in his hand and tried to get through the fog of lust in his eyes by declaring:

“Not, unless you want to run into my whole faction at once.“

Suddenly the blind desire was replaced with open disdain and Desperado shook his head in frustration.

“Shouldn't they be out getting wasted or starting shit with strangers in the streets at this time of day?“

Hiromu raised his eyebrows, unimpressed by the insult and replied:

“As it's only around 3 in the afternoon, aren't you rather talking about Suzuki-gun? Maybe it was in fact Taichi who dropped you off at our home because he didn't wanna drag your drunk ass back to your appartement afterwards.“

That earned him a sharp bite in the ear. Hiromu figured he might have earned it this time.

“Well, maybe your friends are staying at home because your precious Naito-san can't even walk anymore after he got wrecked in Fukuoka. I mean“ - an amused huff of laughter - “he was practically limping out the arena that day. Wait – did he throw you out because you were a pain in the ass about nursing him back to health again? Damn, I would've sold Nobu's tequila supplies to see that.“

Desperado clearly didn't expect to be thrust back into his own chair with that much force in response as he let out an undignified noise and stared at Hiromu like he had gone completely insane. Well, even more so than usual. The small Japanese man crossed the space between them and braced his hands on the armrests on Desperado's sides.

“It was just starting to get fun, Desperado. Thanks for ruining my day for the second time. Seems like you'll never learn when to stop poking the cat. What a shame“

The playful undertone to his voice was gone and his posture was clearly a warning rather than an invitation. Desperado obviously had no idea why Hiromu's attitude and the overall mood of their interaction had changed in an instant and seemed to search for the right words – any sort of reaction that would get Hiromu to delve back into their original plans, except for an apology. But Hiromu didn't plan on letting him.

“I suggest you leave now, Despy. MiSu won't be delighted if you leave him waiting, am I right?“

Desperado looked at him like he was the biggest enigma in the entire world. He can't be that sensitive about me mocking his stable's leader, right?, his eyes seemed to say. Hiromu suddenly felt the absurd need to make him regret his words in the only way he knew how and perched himself on Desperado's lap without tearing his gaze away. Grabbing the Junior Tag champ's hand, he placed a featherlight kiss on each fingertip and completed the sweet torture by dropping his wrist again and licking the side of his face in a luxuriously long stripe. He could feel the shudder vibrating in Desperado's bones and knew that he would've loved to roll his hips upwards but Hiromu made sure that his own position made that impossible.

“What are you... Are you fucking serious?!... What about...“

Hiromu squinted at the other man triumphantly before letting his eyes wander down between Desperado's legs.

“I guess you'll have to beg 'Bendy Britishman' about taking care of this today. Joke's on you,” Hiromu finished and jumped up from his lap without any further explanation. “Send him my regards...,” was the last thing he snorted into Desperado's direction as he reached for his drawing utensils and watched the glass doors of the building close behind him as soon as he had left the foyer.

Desperado could only look on in almost adorable confusion and silent fury while Hiromu blew him a kiss through the transparent facade and made his way down the almost empty street in a lazy stroll.

Not really knowing where to go next, Hiromu checked his mental list of places to visit if one was looking for a bit of peace and quiet. At some point his feet just took him in a certain direction and he mindlessly followed along. In the end, settling on watching pedestrians from a deserted alleyway somewhere downtown seemed to be the most interesting thing to do.

_Not in a creepy way_ , he told himself, _I'm investigating human behavior. Or collecting ideas for future paintings? Yes, something like that. Anything to distract me from Desperado._ Right – except for those pesky intrusive thoughts about the up-coming evening. Naito usually only went to the gym at a time when other wrestlers were fast asleep or out drinking through the night. Something about better focus and a noise-free environment apparently. No wonder, he was always so drowsy during the day. Hiromu wasn't really bothered by it, though because his cat-like nature made him adapt the flexible sleeping schedule of a creature of the night anyway.

Skipping this conversation... He already knew that he'd have to lie to Naito again, if he actually showed up. Ever since his return to Japan, their relationship had grown icier and more purpose-oriented by the day. Hiromu couldn't even pin-point the exact moment, their affectionate hugs after a hard working day in CMLL or the heartfelt kisses in any private setting had turned into approving claps on the back and casual glances over the ringpost during a tag-match. He was so sick and tired of being treated like just another member of the team. Or rather another member with certain... benefits. Not that he didn't take greatest pride in being a part of LIJ. On the contrary, he adored all of his brothers – there probably wasn't anything he wouldn't sacrifice for them and frankly, receiving the offer to join Naito's group was what he considered the most successful day of his career.

And still... Trying to explain his concerns to his mentor tonight would be completely in vain. He just didn't get it... For months now, the only thing Naito really cared about was leading his stable to victory and even though it was most definitely a noble cause, Hiromu suffered along in silence. Always monitoring, always waiting. But what for? What if that day never came? - the day Naito finally realized...

 

When Hiromu at last arrived at LIJ's regular 24-hour gym at around 2 am, Naito was already there, apparently preparing something for their private little training session. He was shuffling around with a small array of different-sized weights and placed them carefully on a bench near their usual leg press machines as Hiromu entered the otherwise empty gym.

“Aah, Hiro – You're late. Busy picking up stray cats from the streets, I suppose?,” Naito quipped and winked at his student – unexpectedly lighthearted.

Even this current, not-to-be-bothered version of him seemed to have understood just how pissed his student had been earlier in the day.

Hiromu warily made his way over to Naito's side and sat cross-legged on the ground.

“Must've picked up your tardiness at some point,” he mumbled . Naito finished his coordinated preparations a few seconds later and squeezed Hiromu's shoulder in encouragement.

“Come on, let's start with some stamina exercises. You can adjust our usual schedule to the special requirements of the up-coming tournament afterwards. Just don't leave out the cardio stuff – I keep telling you how important it is for your safety in the ring: Especially for someone with a break-neck style like yours.”

Hiromu only heard about half of his ramblings and Naito must have noticed because he was pulled to his feet with a briskness clearly intended to distract him from any lingering dark thoughts. They went through their trusted routine without speaking a single word until both of them were slick with sweat and breathing heavily into the cool air of the building. That's when it finally clicked: Naito's plan was to power him out so that he could work out all of his frustrations prior to having any sort of coherent conversation.  _Clever... bastard_. Hiromu tried to hide how thankful he actually was – After all, it was way harder to make a scene when you could barely catch your breath.

So after they had both stretched out their sore muscles and each found a fresh waterbottle for themselves, Hiromu felt a pair of strong arms wrap around his waist from behind. He was leaning against the handle of a scaffolding in front of him and immediately dug his fingers harder into the metal at the oh-so-familiar contact and the feeling of Naito resting his forehead against the back of his head.

“Well... Don't you want to enlighten me now? Why are you so upset?”

Ever so slowly, he started to massage Hiromu's chest to get him to loosen up a bit but that only made things worse. Out of sheer habit, Hiromu pressed himself flat against Naito, purring in response to the smooth touch and the body heat that radiated off the other one's bare skin.

“Do you really care?,” he answered - a small smile gracing his features, “Cause if this is just a poor attempt at getting me to _enlighten_ your evening, we probably shouldn't have met up in a place as unwieldy as this one” and turned his head to bite Naito's lower lip. To Hiromu's surprise however, Naito only stole one heated kiss from his lips before stepping back and just stroking his wet crimson hair.

“...It's because of Fukuoka, right?”

Hiromu's eyes widened. In nearly every other situation Naito could read him like an open book – better than anybody else in the world. Yet whenever his thoughts revolved around his stable's leader and himself...

With an exasperated groan, Hiromu flexed his fingers in front of his face and resorted to honesty after all:

“Can't you just start looking after yourself a little better?! It's really annoying to save your ass all the time.”

Naito gave him a small smile and flicked his nose.

“You know I can't help myself with all these idiots pretending to be God's greatest creations. They are far too easy to rile up.”

“For all I care. But let me tell you – If you and Jericho decide to tear each other apart again before Dominion, you may or may not stand on your own this time.”

Naito ran both hands through his own damp hair and – to Hiromu's dismay – just poked his shoulder and replied:

“I shall try not to leave you with my funeral costs, _cabrón_.”

Hiromu's heart ached at the familiar, playful insult and he decided to cut things short before accidentally revealing something to Naito he might regret later on. _Appealing to his common sense? Yeah - great idea, Hiromu..._

Sighing deeply, Hiromu fetched their gym backs from the lockers nearby and threw Naito his street clothes.

“Come on, let's go home. I'm tired and you wanted to work on my strategy, didn't you?,” he asked and started to dress without waiting for an answer.

“Whoah, woah there, Hiro. We've barely exchanged two sentences and now you already want to leave?,” his mentor tried to stop him but Hiromu still had an ace up his sleeve:

“Well, you had plenty of time while we were training just now. Too bad, Naito-san.”

Naito knew any sort of arguing to be futile when his little protégé was in this kind of mood, so he surrendered with a shake of his head and followed Hiromu out into the early morning hours.


	4. Wrestling Dontaku Day 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just when some sort of peace and harmony had returned into Kenny Omega's life, he is roughly reminded that the grand katharsis to his legacy hasn't gone down in the history books quite yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter will be rather short because it serves merely as an atmospheric setup for the next storyarc. Therefore, my apologies for the long wait but I hope it'll be worth it after all :)

_Wrestling Dontaku, 4.5.2018_

 

**Kenny's POV:**

 

“KENNY OMEGA!!!”

The booming words rang throughout the arena and immediately caught Kenny's attention. Flashing images of an impassioned Rainmaker crossed his sight on a small monitor in the back of the locker room.

Kenny lifted his head in surprise and saw the same disbelief mirrored on Kota's face who froze in the attempt to tie his shoelaces. None of them had really bothered to watch Okada's tie-breaker match against Tanahashi and therefore Kenny didn't understand why the champion would call out him of all people.

A few deep breaths later, he answered the challenge nonetheless and walked out into the headlights, still not completely changed into his street wear and with a certain amount of weariness slowing down his steps. Okada however, lounged against the ring ropes with all his usual self-confidence and fiery playfulness while he waited for his arch-rival to make his way through the crowd and join him in the ring. But this time, something about the young champ was different – Kenny couldn't quite put his hands on it, yet when he stepped through the ropes and came face to face with him, a tiny spark seemed to light up Okada's eyes. Something more than relief but less than joy... or maybe Kenny had just imagined it due to the enormous adrenaline rush that ran through his own body at the prospect of having another match with Okada in the near future.

A violent stream of thoughts and memories clashed in Kenny's head as the two continued to stare each other down, bargained their match stipulation with maximum tension in the air and showed off in front of the cameras. Per usual, a silent, cynical conversation played out between them, spoken in a language only understood by the two of them. But the question he really needed an answer for must have been so blatantly obvious on his face, he was sure Okada could read it from his forehead:

_Why me? Why now?_

Kenny knew that the Rainmaker's decision had nothing to do with perfecting his defense record. Him and Okada had colorful history together, not only in the ring but also behind the curtains. Next to no one knew about the latter and even Kenny himself had been trying to forget about it since... well since he reunited with Kota, to be honest. His whole life had been turned upside-down in the past four months. Having Okada in between would've only been another disaster to worry about.

After the media had taken their pictures and the roar and excitement of the people around them eventually wavered, Kenny returned to the back and mercifully accepted that he would have to exchange a few words with Okada before Dominion rolled around. In private. Desperately. Because whatever his motivations turned out to be... Kenny feared that – left to their own devices - they might shape up to become something more dangerous than even the champion himself realized.


	5. Wrestling Dontaku Day 2, Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kenny comes to a point, where he has to admit to himself: Outrunning your own past only works out for so long...

It had all started out as a joke.

Some stupid dare the Bucks had challenged him to over a meal at 'TGI Fridays' three weeks before Osaka-jo 2017.

'You think you're so irresistible, huh? But I bet there's someone who is even out of _your_ league... What about the champion prince himself? If you can seduce Okada before your rematch, we'll shut up about it, alright?', Matt had teased him boastfully – obviously reassured that Kenny would fail this test.

Of course, Kenny had accepted the challenge before even thinking twice about it. He was confident in his romancing skills and at that point in time so depressed about several different issues that he had basically erased most boundaries considering his already lax love life. On top of that... it wasn't like the Rainmaker hadn't at least sparked up _some_ interest in him.

 

Surprisingly, it only took him a few carefully placed hints, some not so subtle gestures and suggestive looks during and after their pre-Dominion tag matches to catch and hold Little Kazu's attention for good. A small nod to the man here and there in the middle of an interview or promo. Kenny was fooling around as usual (without losing the focus on his athletic goals), toying with the young champ like a cat did with its prey and somehow it almost seemed too easy. Almost. This was nothing more than a game to him and Okada was aware of that. The reactions Kenny got out of him publicly were a mixture of frustration, shameful anger and willful ignorance. But behind his facade, there was an underlying interest and embarrassed curiosity. Kenny knew about it everytime he earned one of those adorably bright blushes.

That's why he wasn't all too shocked when Kazu actually took the bait directly after their last 'Road to Dominion' match. He had been flirting shamelessly all night long which had resulted in finally throwing Okada off his game and a crushing defeat for his Chaos–stable mates. It was only the method Okada used to take him up on his offer that genuinely startled Kenny.

The Young Bucks had just bid their farewell to him in front of the Elite's locker room and slandered off around the corner when Kenny felt himself being pressed against a nearby wall without warning. His head spun upon the impact and he braced himself for punching the hell out of Naito who presumably had nothing else to do or shielding his face from an in-coming blow by Suzuki who – let's face it – never needed an actual reason to attack someone. But the sight he was greeted with when his vision cleared out made him smile wickedly. Kazuchika Okada held him up by the collar of his shirt and left him no chance to escape as he towered above the Bullet Club leader in all his sparkly, golden glory.

“Whoah, that's not a nice way to court someone, Rainmaker. I suppose we could work on your lack of experience, though. _If_ you'd let me stand,” Kenny snickered in the other one's native tongue and wiggled his eyebrows at Okada who looked tempted to knock Kenny's head against the wall once more. Baring his impeccable teeth, he brought his face close to Kenny's ear and growled out a threat in Japanese:

“Try to pull this shit on me one more time, Omega and I swear to God, I'll end you!”

Kenny ignored the way Okada's new found intensity made his skin crawl and slowly ran a hand up and down Kazu's fancy coat sleeve.

“I know you do not hate me in earnest, Kazuchika. You're just infuriated with how helpless I let you feel. Don't worry, I tend to have this effect on people.” Okada caught Kenny's wandering wrist in an iron grip and pulled back until he could get into the Canadian's face even more. _Jesus, he's gorgeous_ , Kenny quietly observed, E _ven more so when he's flustered. No wonder they picked him to be their chosen one. Shame, he's got to be such a high-handed asshole._

“I couldn't care less about what on earth you do with your freetime. But let me tell you: I'm not gonna become another trophy on your wall. No matter how hard you try. The only reason I care about you right now is because New Japan's success is what's most important to me. And to achieve that, our match in Osaka has to be even more groundbreaking than the last. So I _also_ need you to be at one hundred percent, understood?,” Okada argued but Kenny only replied with:

“Awww, you care about me. How sweet.” Though softly stroking Kazu's cheek was something he immediately regretted as his hair was pulled back in a hurtful yank. Slightly breathless, Kenny closed his eyes and shook his head.

“Why don't you just drop the act, Okada? No one's around. If you had come here just to scold me, you could've easily finished me off already. Yet... you didn't. That speaks volumes, you know?-” “Stop talking, bastard!” “- You're so hyperfocused on ruling over this company that you completely lost your grip on everything else. Does your personal life even exist? Just relax for once. Honestly... This is pathetic, champ.”

_Oh, that one hit home hard. I can see it in his eyes._

Kenny knew that he was being a giant hypocrite but couldn't care less right now. Okada looked him up and down and sneered in disgust.

“ _You_ have the nerve to call _me_ pathetic?! I'm not the one who's so desperate to get laid that I voluntarily embarrass myself in front of a thousand's audience.”

“No, you're the spoiled brat that considers himself to be above asking for something as simple as a kiss,” Kenny interrupted him and felt his chest swell with pride as another pretty blush spread across Okada's features.

“Are you really conceited enough to believe I would want to kiss you?”

The Cleaner let out a thoroughly bemused laugh and bit his lip in satisfaction. _Check mate, Rainmaker. I've got you now._

“Oh, I'm certain you do. But it doesn't matter anyway because in reality, you're a damn coward outside the ring and would never even have the guts to touch me,” he practically purred.

Next thing he knew, Kenny was being shoved against the wall with pure determination this time and a pair of heated lips crashed against his own.

When he had imagined their first kiss in the past it had always been like a clash of fire – twin flames nurturing each other to an even more brilliant blaze, unable to extinguish one another. Reality came alarmingly close. Only that Kenny was scared of _how_ much better it actually felt.

He stifled a shit-eating grin against Okada's mouth and didn't even try to pry his hands out of the tight grip when he closed his eyes and kissed back with equal fierceness. Because why on earth wouldn't he?

Only for a moment they broke apart to catch their breath and glare into each other's eyes: A silent challenge, an alternative way of declaring that the time for words and teasing was over. To keep it fair, Kenny stopped acting like this wasn't what he wanted as well and shut off his brain for once, initiating the next kiss by himself which was eagerly returned. How could this be so similar yet so different to what he had expected? Desperation rather than aggression, something primal connecting rather than attempting to destroy, a fight yes – but for the sake of fighting rather than outdo the other.

As soon as Okada let go of his arms, Kenny instinctively wrapped them around his neck and allowed the younger one to lift him up so he could hook his legs behind Kazu's waist. It instantly reminded him of the times he had been hoisted up onto the turnbuckle for the infamous dropkick.

At the same time, the Cleaner felt a hand rake messily through the long hair of his ponytail and soon his head was pulled back to an almost painful degree. Now Okada had enough space to trail his annoyingly soft lips over Kenny's jaw down to his exposed throat. For a moment, Kenny disputed not making any noise or granting his rival appreciative reactions at all but came to the conclusion that by doing so he might be able to drive Little Kazu even crazier.

As much as he hated to admit it: Okada seemed to know what he was doing and Kenny was nearly overwhelmed by the myriad of sensations flooding his senses at once: The intoxicating smell of over-prized cologne, the strangely comforting warmth of another body close against his own and the barely audible moans reaching his ear as he too lowered his face and started to leave little love bites on the smooth skin of Okada's neck.

_All of this seems oddly familiar... like an extension of our combat in the ring. It should definitely concern me how right this feels,_ Kenny thought and noticed a forbidden agitation at the hard truth that wrestling the Rainmaker would never be the same again. Simultaneously, the embrace around him tightened at Kenny's unrestrained advance. What _really_ got to him though was the way Okada just slightly craned his head to the side in a discreet encouragement to keep going. They were both still a bit sweaty from their previous match and Kenny had to surpress a little groan at the salty taste when he continued to kiss and lick over Kazu's neck.

This whole ordeal bordered on sheer insanity – Having your sights set on the most prestigious IWGP Heavyweight Champion in decades – just for fun - and hoping to get out alive? Any other person would never even dream about such a thing. But obviously... Kenny was no ordinary person.

When he proceeded to tug on the lapels of a certain absurdly extravagant coat in order to get it off, an impatient hiss interrupted him:

“Do you want to get caught like this? ...Hold on tight.”

Not really up for debating anymore, Kenny just obeyed and watched as Okada pulled him up by the bottom and carried him about ten feet down the hallway only to push open a random door to their left and drag him inside an abandoned storage room. _Tsk, naturally he knows the entire layout of Korakuen Hall by now..._

He quickly locked the door by jamming a folded up steel chair under the handle and settled Kenny down on some unused ring mats that were stacked on a cart nearby.

“Whew. Got practice with that, darling?” - “I said, shut up!,” Okada retorted and stepped between his legs again before Kenny's eyes had even adjusted to the dimness of the room. Not that he was complaining much. This time the Rainmaker put up no resistance when the blonde tugged the coat off his shoulders and slid his own hands under the back of Kenny's Bullet Club shirt in return. Kenny hoped he could not feel the goosebumps creeping over his skin at the touch and pulled him down into a much bolder kiss as a distraction. Kazu's answering groan hit him harder than any Rainmaker. Following this sort of reaction he couldn't resist pushing his luck by running his tongue over Okada's meanwhile swollen lips. If he hadn't already been amazed at how much the IWGP champ actually gave in to him, he certainly was now as Okada took the hint and slipped his tongue into Kenny's mouth. He tasted like honey and something as addictive as ambrosia. The absolute bastard.

Upon leaning back from their kiss, Kazu decided to keep Kenny's bottom lip between his teeth and carefully suckle on it for a second. The sight was so undeniably hot, it sent a jolt straight down to Kenny's groin.

_Why the heck does it take so little to set me off nowadays?! It's not because of_ him. _It_ can't _be because of_ him _. I'm over that. So what is it then?_

Apparently Okada must have had enough of Kenny aimlessly pawing at the golden skin of his chest as soon as physically possible because when the two separated this time, Kenny noticed his own shirt had gone missing as well. He didn't remember lying back down onto the cold surface of a mat, either. The heat engulfing his body right now seemingly made him numb to his environment. Some part of his brain still had to be functioning, though as he registered the change of tone in Okada's voice when the man suddenly pinned Kenny's wrists to the mat over his head – as if to cover him – and stated with a strange, cool neutrality:

“I will defeat you at Dominion. And every other time after that. You're aware of that, I hope.”

For a minute, Kenny just stared back at his nemesis until their shared breath was the only sound far and wide. Then he propped himself up on his elbows and smiled languidly.

“...Do you happen to know the tale of Icarus?”

Obviously there was no reply – no verbal one at least. Kenny instantly knew there would also be no more chit chat going forward when Okada practically hauled their bare upper bodies together and unfastened his hair-tie, causing silvery-white locks to pour down over the Cleaner's broad back. Kenny didn't even try to hide the pain and pleasure splitting through his conscience as the other one raked his nails in a straight line down the already scarred skin. _These kinds of bruises I can easily explain in a wrestling sense luckily._

He tangled his hands in Okada's short hair and let himself be lost. Lost in the rare and soothing joy of not caring about anything at all.

Therefore, Kazu's fingers found nothing to stop them while they slowly trailed down over Kenny's chest to the fly of his tights. Blatant desire drenched the air around them by now and somewhere along the line Kenny even forgot why he had lured the young champion into doing this in the first place. They were all searing touches, unspent energy and slightly muffled sounds of fervor - given anyone still _was_ roaming around the emptying arena. Yet even then, none of them granted their rival to gain the upper hand for too long.

The moment Kenny finally allowed himself to buck his hips up into Okada's, the usually so stoical wrestler vanished entirely. Pure fascination and satisfaction took a hold of him watching some predatory edge sneak into the Rainmaker's every action. As a result Kenny wasn't really shocked about how Okada didn't waste any more time and when they ultimately got down to it, didn't even bother to get their remaining clothes off all the way.

It might've been awfully cliché to admit in the aftermath but for the first time in ages... he actually felt anything at all.

 

Four days later, Kenny met up with the Bucks again at Narita Airport. They had just come back to Japan after spending an extended weekend with their families and called their faction leader to ask if he could pick them up at the terminal.

So while they headed towards the exit, Nick carefully broached the subject the brothers had been eagerly chatting about since their departure:

“Alright, Kenneth... Bearing in mind we're heading to your place to film BTE right now and Marty and Adam will probably already be waiting for us there... Why don't you tell us the story of how you miserably failed to wrap Kazuchika Okada around your finger in advance? Unless you want to be publicly shamed for it, of course.”

Matt and Nick couldn't help but smile cheekily at Kenny who walked in between them and dragged some of their suitcases along.

“Or did you chicken out already? Are you procrastinating?,” Matt interjected and squeezed Kenny's shoulder in a pitying yet affectionate manner.

The Cleaner didn't respond immediately and seemed very lost in his own thoughts for a while before he finally looked up and a triumphant smirk blossomed on his face.

“Sorry to disappoint you two but I fear the only story I can tell is one of victory,” he proudly declared.

The Jackson brothers came to a halt so abruptly, Kenny almost tripped over their luggage. They stared at each other like they had suddenly forgotten how to do flips, then reverted their incredulous gaze to their best friend.

“You're one hundred percent messing with us, Kenny. No way you actually got _Okada_ of all people to make out with you!,” Matt exclaimed and quickly kept his volume down at the sight of some people in the airport turning around in confusion. Kenny mockingly put a hand over his heart and made a face.

“Are you really that unconvinced of my charms, Matthew? I'm deeply wounded. But hey - If you _really_ need some proof...”

He reassured himself nobody was watching the trio anymore before slowly pulling down the collar of his hoodie until the Bucks could see the unmistakable red traces of hickeys on his neck. Kenny lifted his eyebrows in amusement and watched as Matt and Nick went through a remarkable face journey. At last, Matt shook himself and stuttered:

“How... how do we know they are actually from him?”

Kenny bopped him on the nose.

“Who else apart from you two right now?,” he countered and returned their smug smiles.

Nick was the first one to regain his sense of speech and blew out a breath in astonishment.

“Wow... That's... impressive. I guess we owe you one,” he murmured and shrugged helplessly. “I suppose Little Kazu isn't as rough around the edges as we had always anticipated.”

Kenny turned up his nose and crossed his arms casually.

“He's actually a lil' sweetheart. Just too stuck up to come out of his shell.”

“Well,” Matt began and resumed walking towards the taxi stop beyond the counters, “hard to find someone who's great at wrestling _and_ between the sheets, eh? Nick and I basically cracked the jackpot with you hehe.”

The two of them exchanged a knowing glance before the older brother continued:

“But hey, someone who's a genius at wrestling and having a bit less _fun_ is no slouch, either.”

Kenny's body language after hearing that statement was so terribly obvious, Nick grabbed him by the shoulder and stared him down with his jaw basically dropping to the floor.

“Wait, you two actually sealed the deal?!”

For some reason, Kenny had to fight a blush himself before he lightly shoved Nick away and continued heading towards their ride.

“Next time I confront him, you two will have to specify your intentions then,” he defended himself without realizing what he had implied by doing so. The Young Bucks hurried after their best friend who was already rushing down the steps of the airport.

“Hold on, hold on - What the hell do you mean with: 'the next time'?,” Matt wanted to know and tilted his head to the side in expectation. Kenny froze mid-step but managed to shake it off just in time to mercilessly end the conversation:

“Just a turn of phrase, dumbass. Now please be so kind as to take your luggage back. I'm not loading the damn taxi myself.”

 

 

Kenny remembered this first turning point in his story with Okada like it was yesterday.

Every step of their common and separate journeys since had been – in some way – affected by said incident.

Before he could be sucked into the vortex of his own memories, however and how they might – no _would -_ eventually affect the present, Kenny realized at one fell swoop that he wasn't only responsible for himself anymore. It honestly frightened him that his self-destructive habits would backfire _immediately_ from now on.

He couldn't dodge this confrontation. It was his chance to proof Kota right – that he actually _had_ grown as a person. That they would be completely honest with each other this time – no secrets, no backdoors. Period. If Ibushi hadn't already overheard the rumors somewhere else last year... which would make things a bit easier. Right?...

On his way back to the lockerroom, Kenny almost fell into something close to a meditative state. The noise from the crowd still thundered in his ears while he felt elated and oh so numb at the same time.

Okada. Ibushi. Ibushi and Okada.

Which battle to fight first? _A choice like sodom and gomorrah._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, that was probably the last update in quite a while because I'm off on holiday the next few weeks - Don't know if or when I will get to continue writing additionally. But I will come back to this eventually. In the meantime: Enjoy the G1, AEW and have a fantastic summer, everyone! :)


	6. Interim

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kenny thinks that - this time - he may have made the right decision for once.

_1 week later:_

 

Mercy. A privilege Kenny had barely been granted since joining the Bullet Club or New Japan in general. But of course – of course – Kota was the unconditional exception.

He just had to do it. Had to break the silence about this strange, suspicious relationship with Okada that Ibushi had become increasingly wary about after Kenny's highly emotional confrontation with the Rainmaker at Dontaku.

It terrified him: the slight lack of shame and guilt when he thought of the objective mistakes he had committed when it came to the young champion. Because his ego had been hurt, first and foremost.

Pain. That was what he felt. Pain in all its different forms, strong enough to give Kota all the answers he was obviously wishing for but being too considerate to ask. His Golden Star deserved to know, to learn the truth behind the empty void he had left in Kenny's life, step by step. Especially after the tremendous amount of time, energy as well as unfaltering physical and emotional support Kota had voluntarily invested in preparing Kenny for the fight of his life.

Day after day, the two of them ran the same gauntlet together he had used to absolve with the Young Bucks before his big, life-changing matches. Somehow, this was completely different. Kenny believed he had developed genuine superpowers, ready to take on whatever the future might throw in his path as long as his long lost love was by his side, peptalked him out of every arising doubt, helped him steel his body, his mind and his very soul against the one opponent, the one force of nature he was never able to overcome on his own.

That was why Kenny owed Kota the confirmation of those twisted, creeping rumors, after all – No, he actually _longed_ to be honest with him. And so he told Kota. Everything. Not really surprised about the man's reaction. Or at least parts of it: He expected Kota to have seen through him as usual, kinda knew he would've guessed from the various hints Kenny hadn't really bothered to hide and because he was well aware that his friend had always been an excellent critical observer.

Kota Ibushi wasn't much of a talker, simply because he didn't need to be.

What left Kenny utterly speechless, though was how he slowly started to smile after the Canadian had fallen silent – resigned and understanding. Just like he had before their second first kiss by the pond. It was as if someone had tied Kenny Omega to his chair when he listened to Ibushi's wisely chosen words of acceptance and... forgiveness? Yet even then – the last thing he expected was for Kota to give him _that_ kind of advice:

“You want me to do WHAT?!”

\- “Pay him a visit and talk it out. Try to sort things between the two of you. That's not really something I can help you with. I'm sure he's just waiting for you to come to him – after everything you just told me” - “But, Ibu-san...”

\- “Don't tell me that wasn't your plan all along...I really do appreciate your honesty and request for approval, though, Kenny. And even if I don't actually know what's been going on between you guys, I can see that it's still bothering you. That it's important to you” - Kenny was keen on protesting immediately but his partner cut him off:

“Go see Okada-san, Kenny. I won't judge you – I promise... No matter what you decide to do.” He paused for a moment and leveled Kenny with a pensive look. “Certainly, he would appreciate some clarity _before_ the biggest match of your careers.”

The Bullet Club leader just kept shaking his head, at a loss for words.

“So you trust me to be around the very man I betrayed you with?” - “You didn't. We walked on different paths back then. There's nothing you can change about the past, only the future. So... let's try to make it better.”

 

Tokyo was just waking up when Kenny tensely walked up the last set of stairs inside the Chaos headquarters to Okada's very own penthouse five days before Dominion.

He could've easily taken that ridiculously modern elevator instead but figured it was worth being breathless if it meant exerting the anxiety out of his body. And also a bit because he had always despised the penetrating sense of luxury and pageantry lining every inch of this building.

Kenny forced himself to knock on the door before convincing himself otherwise and resisted the urge to pear into a nearby mirror as long as no one had noticed him yet. Clenching his teeth, he watched as a drowsy looking, surprisingly already dressed Kazuchika Okada opened the door and backed away a step in disbelief as he recognized Kenny's form against the blinding morning sun.

“Good morning, handsome," the former Cleaner greeted in Japanese and with a hesitant smile, “you look like you just fell out of bed.”

Well, actually he looked quite adorable. Untypically wide, cozy clothes, spiky bleach blonde hair and all.

“Kenny?! How on earth did you get in?," Okada mumbled almost hopelessly like it wasn't even worth the effort anymore. He appeared slightly taken aback by the fact that Kenny indeed waited for an invitation to enter instead of ducking underneath his elbow and slowly closed the door behind them.

Kota had been right: The Rainmaker didn't seem all too disgruntled by his spontaneous visit. In fact, he nearly seemed relieved.

An awkward silence spread out between the two and both of them had stopped at a healthy distance away from each other. It was Okada who spoke up in the end, lazily making his way over to the kitchen counters.

“I doubt you broke into my house for an early tea party. Can I offer you something anyway?” Kenny looked after him. “Coffee would be nice, all black, thank you.”

Okada seemed to avoid some kind of joke at his expense and returned with two steaming cups a few moments later.

“Is that a peace offering?," Kenny carefully asked, blowing cool air onto his drink. Kazuchika just kept watching him, not moving an inch.

“Depends on why you're here.”

Kenny leaned against a marble pillar nearby, Okada chose the back-end of his grand piano in the middle of the airy space. The one he never played on. Or at least Kenny had never seen him do it.

“You know why. I need to know why you challenged me. Now of all times. Of all possible opponents," he replied and hated his voice for sounding so lost. “Not that I don't feel honored but... I wouldn't have thought to be your highest priority right now.”

Something flickered in Okada's chestnut eyes, if only for a moment. He took a sip of his coffee and lifted his chin.

“I think it was just the right time. I wasn't lying when I said that you were the only person worthy of a title shot in my eyes... I could never truly beat you – not even at Wrestlekingdom. You just kept getting back up. Like nothing and no one could ever wipe out the inferno that is Kenny Omega. It still fascinates me as much as it haunts me, you know. And despite that...”

The young champion trailed off. Kenny listened to his words with an unreadable expression, keeping quiet while Kazuchika placed his cup on the closed keyboard behind him.

“Everyone seems to be convinced that you're in the best shape of your life. I definitely am in mine. It's only rational that we put an end to this war once and for all right now. I mean – just look at you. No one can deny that you're basically glowing ever since he came back.”

Okada sounded extremely strained and Kenny's eyes widened over the rim of his coffee cup. _'He...'_

“I see... Doubtful, I'll get anything else out of you, right? So, if you're telling the truth, I think I can live with that. It's not like this beauty right there wasn't still the ultimate symbol of my hopes and dreams, after all," Kenny clarified with a pointed look towards the IWGP Heavyweight belt, lying neatly folded in a suitcase by the seating area, “But I think we should set a few rules beforehand...”

Kenny's face was like an open book, he didn't need to hide anything from his greatest rival anymore and it felt more than alleviating. He wanted their Dominion match to become the stuff of legends, a perfect example for sportsmanship, fairness and hard-earned respect. It would settle their scores. For real this time. In more ways than one.

Kazuchika took a deliberate step in Kenny's direction and...smiled. Actually smiled.

“I'm listening.”

“...No tricks or distractions allowed. Let's each just give our best and wrestle our hearts out, alright? I guess we can agree that the times for fake animosities and being assholes towards each other have passed us by. We carry one heavy responsibility upon our backs, Kazuchika. This is our chance to show the world what New Japan is capable of. What we want it to become.”

Okada looked stunned for a moment before his whole stature changed and now reflected the iron will in his eyes.

“There's nothing more to add, Omega. It'll be my pleasure to absolutely vanquish you next week," the Rainmaker proudly declared and – to Kenny's undying awe – reached out his hand.

 _Oh, how far we've come..._ , Omega mused and hesitated only for a moment until he grasped Okada's outstretched fingers reassuringly. He lifted his gaze to the champion's face and returned Kazu's previous smile.

“Can barely wait for it, trust me. Sorry to disappoint you, though: I firmly believe the return of my Bu-san made me invincible. Don't underestimate the impact his presence will have on my performance, champ," Kenny said and his heart missed a beat as Okada's grip on his hand tightened instinctively. For a second he almost expected to be pulled closer to the Rainmaker's body and certain, omnipresent memories that his mind connected to this very appartement threatened to overwhelm him, no matter how hard he had tried to block them out ever since entering.

But then it was all over again and Kazuchika gradually released the handshake.

“We'll see about that.”

Well, that sounded pretty final. Kenny took the hint as well as a steadying breath and set his half empty cup on the keyboard next to Okada's.

“Thanks for the mood enhancer, love," he drawled and beheld the way rich, golden morning light washed over Okada's tall frame. “See you at Osaka-jo.”

Kenny was already halfway out the door when Kazuchika deigned to respond:

“Use those last few days wisely. I won't go easy on you, Kenny.”

The Best Bout Machine smirked to himself, balancing the door handle beneath his fingertips. “Don't you dare, Rainmaker.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that it took SO long after all... I just couldn't get in enough freetime and when I did, the muses wouldn't really cooperate.  
> I still hope some of you stayed with me and that those who did will enjoy this new chapter <3
> 
> Any kind of feedback would make my day, as always!


End file.
